Memories in the Rain
by LightGirl101
Summary: There's never any thunder in Seireitei so Toushiro didn't expect it to affect him much but when he's wormed into staying at Ichigo's and a storm hits, he gets a memory that breaks him. He immediately latched onto the first thing offering support; Ichigo
1. Memories in the Rain

Well, I suddenly got the thought and it wouldn't leave! It's really fluffy and a bit sad so don't flame me if they're a bit ooc. Also, I'm gonna say that Ichigo had an interesting encounter _long_ before the vizards with his hollow so this is a week after he started their training and a day after Karin and Toushiro had that soccer match. Ichigo didn't stay missing for more than two days and-

_dryly~ You're babbling Jane..._

Yeah, so?

**snorts~ It's annoying.**

pointing angrily~ Nobody asked you Kurai!

Summary: There's never any thunder in Seireitei so Toushiro didn't expect it to affect him much but when he's wormed into staying at Ichigo's and a storm hits, he gets a memory that breaks him. He immediately latched onto the first thing offering support; Ichigo

**_Memories in the Rain_**

"I can't believe that my sisters forced you to come over, Toushiro!" Ichigo laughed at the captain of Squad 10, feeling unbarabley amused by the fact as torquise eyes glared back at him coldly.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you, Ichigo." Toushiro said icily, glaring at the vizard in front of him. He didn't mind Ichigo - heck he might someday be willing to call him a friend! - but even with knowing he had an inner hollow, the snowy haired boy couldn't help but feel that the citrus haired boy was hiding something bigger. Like he knew more than he let on.

But even then... it was impossible not to trust Ichigo Kurosaki and even harder not to respect him for his drive. And it was damn near _impossible_ to make the boy show you respect! He never called authority by their title and used your given name whether you wanted him to or not, add to that he had a sense of humor similar to that of the old Squad 13 luitenant, Shiba Kaien. And man that guy always managed to piss Toushiro off when he was alive - it's a wonder the boy hadn't have killed the young man himself, let alone Ichigo.

"Toushiro, you're staying the night right?" Yuzu asked kindly, showing up in the room with a bright smile.

"That's Captain Hitsugaya." The boy grumbled. All of Ichigo's family knew of the whole shinigami business, so it didn't sound weird to anyone that he said something like that randomly.

"Sorry." Yuzu blushed ever so slightly, "You're staying the night though, right Captain Hitsugaya? I can set up the guest room for you tonight if you are."

"Thank you, Kurosaki-chan." Toushiro said, nodding in thanks. He looked outside, "It's gonna rain." The boy said blissfully. He loved when it rained at the Soul Society. It was peaceful and the rain drumming on the roof always relaxed him.

"Huh. I guess you're right." Ichigo mumbled, looking out the window boredly. He plopped down on his bed and looking at the captain lazily, "So, what were you doing, Toushiro?"

"Captain Hitsugaya and if you must know I was trying to scout for arrancar." Toushiro said icily.

"Geesh, you don't have to be so cold, Shiro-chan." Ichigo sighed and then winced ever so slightly but not from the glare Hitsugaya gave him, more the verbal thrashing Shirosaki was giving him from inside.

"Did you just refer to me as Shiro-chan, Kurosaki? Because last I checked I didn't agree to a nickname." Toushiro said icily, glaring with pure annoyance at the substitute shinigami.

"Alright, I wont give you a nickname. I guess it wouldn't have worked the way Shiro's going off about me putting 'chan' after his name... Who would of thought that he'd grown so attached to it." Ichigo said in surrender at first but then with a hint of amusement with a strange glint in his eyes. "Shiro said he will kill me if he ever gets the chance... he wants to tear my throat out... feed my remains to a dog... yadayadayada..." he seemed to be overly amused by the whole situation as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't find it at all amusing." Toushiro said darkly.

Ichigo simply stared back at him blankly before shrugging, "Sorry for trying to lighten the mood a bit."

"You're an idiot, Ichigo." Rukia said from the doorway, already in her pajamas and coming from her room - which had once been Yuzu's.

"Says the annoying midget..." Ichigo drawled lazily, flopping backwards on his bed.

"Shut up, Ichigo." Rukia said, frowning and walking in to sit at the desk, staring at the two oddly haired boys, one of which lie in bed the other sat with an annoyed look on his face at the foot of said bed. "Ichigo... you're acting differently than you were earlier, are you alright?" She asked in concern.

"Yeah, I think so." Ichigo mumbled and Toushiro and Rukia sweatdropped as they realized he was already half asleep. "I'm... just a bit tired." he yawned.

"You haven't even eaten dinner yet." Rukia said, frowning once more.

"Oh yeah." Ichigo said, suddenly sitting up and heading towards the dresser, "Here Toushiro, these are my old pajamas from when I was a kid. I think they'll fit you." He said, tossing a pair of green pajama pants and a matching button up pajama shirt to the small captain.

"I said to call me- you know what, never mind." Toushiro finally sighed and looked at the pajamas in his hands before standing and making his way to the bathroom to change. "Thank you." He muttered as he walked out.

"M'Welcome." Ichigo said, yawning again. "I'm just gonna skip dinner. I feel more drained than usual." He told Rukia, who nodded after a moment and left her friend to go to bed.

_**Later - Toushiro**_

He was almost asleep when, out of nowhere, there was a loud _**BOOM**_ from outside which was followed quickly by lightening. Toushiro shot up, he knew lightning was in a storm but what in the world was that boom? There was never any thunder in Seireitei so this was a new experience for him. He settled down but soon found he couldn't sleep with that annoying sound and soon felt a bit unnerved at how frequent it was becoming.

Another boom resounded and teal eyes widened as a flash from his previous life passed over him, causing him to shake slightly as a small flashback with a memory he didn't even know he had suddenly filled him.

_It had been during a thunderstorm, when it had happened. When his father was murdered trying to protect Toushiro and his mother. But it had done no good as no matter how quick they ran... he still caught up to them before they made it outside. _

_His mother's screams could be heard as sadistic brown eyes glinted in the moonlight and then turned to him with the knife in hand. "You're next boyo!" the man had laughed, advancing on him._

_"No! Stay away from me!" He shouted, backing up into the corner with his arms raised in a petty attempt to defend himself._

_The last thing he saw was those evil eyes grinning down at him and just as the knife came down there was a resounding boom of thunder._

_**BOOM!**_

Toushiro shot up as the thunder broke him from his flashback, crying for the first time in almost twenty-three years, unrelenting tears rolling down his cheeks as he pulled his knees to his chest, sobbing.

He just remembered his death, his _murder_, and the murder of his previous life's parents... Toushiro felt cold, vulnerable, weak, helpless... But he wanted to feel warm and safe again, he wanted to be protec-

_**BOOM!**_

He shot off the bed in pure fear but his foot got caught in the sheets, sending him crashing to the ground painfully. Toushiro clenched his fist tightly around the pillow that had kept his head from hitting the ground, sobbing like the little kid he appeared to be and the little kid he'd been when he'd died.

His head shot up as the door opened but while he stilled his sobs he couldn't stop the tears as the light flickered on and warm chocolate eyes stared at him in concern. "Toushiro..." Ichigo whispered.

Toushiro had never felt so happy to see the substitute sould reaper in his entire life.

**_Let's Backtrack A Bit Shall We?_**

"What? What?" Ichigo said, shooting up and blinking tiredly. Right on cue there was a crash from down the hall and on instinct that Shiro had engrained into his entire being the orange haired teen shot up and walked cautiously down the hall.

Ichigo stopped, frozen, when he heard sobbing from inside Toushiro's room. "What the...?" Ichigo mumbled opening the door to find Toushiro on the ground, clutching the pillow but his head shot up and the sobbing stopped as soon as pushed the door open further.

He reached other and flicked on the light to meet puffy, red rimmed, teal colored eyes that had an endless flow of tears coming from them, raining down the normally passive but now terrified face. Ichigo slowly went into shock and whispered in a concerned voice, "Toushiro..."

Toushiro's lip was trembling and his shoulders shook as he held in his sobs, but his eyes were what struck Ichigo right in the heart. They were the picture of a traumatized child, of a child that had witnessed something horrible that they shouldn't have seen but did anyway.

It was all instinct after seeing those eyes.

Ichigo walked forward and dropped to his knees in front of Toushiro, who had sat up a moment ago, and pulled the snowy haired boy into a hug. The captain went stiff but Ichigo brushed a calming hand through his hair, instantly breaking his resolve and Toushiro grabbed onto him, breaking down completely and crying into Ichigo's shirt.

Ichigo's touch was nothing like that time Matsumoto and Momo had tried to comfort him after his and Momo's grandmother died - it wasn't understanding, heck it probably couldn't be counted as comforting. No, the only thing that Toushiro felt when Ichigo wrapped his strong arms around him was security and compassion. Was that how Rukia had felt when Ichigo had saved her? How those people he'd saved from those thugs yesterday felt? Safe?

He also knew that Ichigo had probably done this before with probably several different people - his embrace wasn't gentle, it wasn't thoughtful, it was just there - and besides, Ichigo was known for being _way_ to empathic, especially towards his friends. Ichigo was an anchor to everyone, that Toushiro knew. And he used to feel that he didn't _need_ an anchor, that he didn't need Ichigo to protect or save him like the Soul Society had several times... he had been wrong. Toushiro needed that same anchor now, he needed to feel safe.

The sobs continued to wrack his small frame as he clenched his eyes shut in a futile attempt to at least stall the tears flowing relentlessly from his eyes.

"It's alright, Toushiro." Ichigo whispered, rocking back and forth gently.

"I... I told you... not to... not to call me-me that!" Toushiro sobbed, clutching Ichigo's shirt tighter.

Ichigo smiled sadly, "I'm sorry, Toushiro."

"Wh-What for?" Toushiro said, his sobs slowly calming down but not stopping.

"For always treating you like a little kid." Ichigo said and to prove his point he ran his hand through the boy's hair yet again, as if he was an older brother comforting his younger one.

"I'm not a little kid~hic~ I just died that way." Toushiro's sobbing quieted down to small hiccupps but his tears refused to stop as they stained Ichigo' shirt.

"Wha-what?" Ichigo stammered in surprise before his eyes widened in realization, "Oh Toushiro... you didn't..." he whispered. Most people probably couldn't have put it all together, let alone that fast, but Ichigo had always been full a surprises so Toushiro didn't think much of it as he couldn't help but babble - he needed to tell _someone_ that wouldn't just pity him for it.

"It had a lot of thunder... In Seireitei there is _no_ thunder... I didn't think it would effect me so much when I finally heard it but..." Toushiro's sobbing came back stronger than before and he clutched onto the substitue shinigami tighter. "I saw it, Ichigo." he whispered brokenly, "The man that killed my _real_ parents and then killed me... I saw it!" he cried out before breaking once again.

Ichigo had no words to offer so he continued rubbing circles into the boy's back and running his hand through his hair in a soothing motion, rocking back and forth until Toushiro had stopped crying completely but was still clutching onto him. "Ready to go back to be-?"

_**BOOM!**_

Both his and Toushiro winced at the sudden burst of thunder as the lights suddenly went out with the power lines. "Can I stay with you?" Toushiro asked weakly, suddenly tightening his grip on the older boy to an almost death-like grip.

Ichigo's uncomfortable - as he's getting the life squeezed out of him - face softened dramatically and he put a hand on his guest's head, "Sure Toushiro, you can stay with me."

Toushiro gave a small thank you, probably feeling ashamed for his act of weakness from a simple storm, but Ichigo wouldn't allow it as he pulled him to his feet and lead him along the suddenly dark hallway by the hand and into his room. Ichigo climbed in his bed and Toushiro shifted from foot to foot awkwardly. Ichigo blinked and moved over even more, tossing back the covers for him.

He hesitated...

_**BOOM!**_

Toushiro scrambled frantically into the bed beside him, allowed the blanket to be tucked around him like a little kid, and silently thanked Ichigo for beind his anchor when he broke as his turqoise eyes drifted shut. Ichigo had fallen asleep the moment he knew Toushiro would be alright. The boy subconciously snuggled into Ichigo's side, waking the half asleep teen, who smiled in exsasperation and put an arm around his friend, drifting away yet again.

He was starting to see why Rangiku always gushed over the child captain, not that Ichigo'd ever admit that.

**_End!_**

Well? What do you think? A little fluffy or a bit too morbid? Should I add another chappy or leave it as a cutesy one-shot? If I do add more chapters should I keep Toushiro and Ichigo in a sort of brotherly relationship or should I make it a romantic one? Should I just make more memories for different characters? Or just stick to Shiro-chan and Ichi?

Flames will be used for heating dish water and reviews will be used to fire up the inspiration within my muses and me!


	2. Another Day Another Memory

_**Another Day; Another Memory**_

Rukia sat at the table, waiting for Ichigo and Captain Hitsugaya to come down along with the rest of the family. Yuzu placed the plates down and sauntered upstairs before rushing back down, "You've got to come see this! It's so cute!" She squealed before rushing back up.

Rukia blinked and shared a glance with Karin, who shrugged and followed. Ishiin had gone to work early so there was no reason to worry about going fast so they could see it. When they got up there they followed Yuzu into Ichigo's room but were unprepared for what they saw. It _was_ really cute.

Ichigo was lying there, dead asleep, with Toushiro curled up beside him, holding onto the older boy's arm as if he'd disappear. Upon closer inspection they found that Toushiro's face had dried tear tracks down his cheeks and under his eyes looked a bit tender from crying.

"Captain Hitsugata, Ichi-nii, wake up." Yuzu said gently, shaking them carefully. "Come on, it's time for breakfast and then you need to get ready for school."

"Mm, I don' wanna go ta school." Toushiro mumbled sleepily, snuggling deeper into the older teen's side, unknowing of how cute he was being. Ichigo didn't move.

"Get up sleepy-heads. Breakfast time." Karin said, flicking both boy's in the nose. Ichigo grumbled but slowly blinked at them while Toushiro blinked past the haze in his eyes, noting they were a bit sore as he lifted his head.

"Huh, what happe-?" Toushiro cut himself off and slowly turned bright red, releasing Ichigo's arm and slowly pulling away. "Sorry Ichigo." He mumbled in embarrassment.

"'s no problem." Ichigo said, still half asleep and stretching his arms above his head. He stood up and walked out of the room, an embarrassed Toushiro instantly following him, both ignoring the curious stares from the three girls.

They were done eating breakfast when Yuzu handed the snowy haired boy a bundle of clothes, "I washed your school uniform last night after you changed into the pajamas, Captain Hitsugaya." She said brightly.

"Thank you." Toushiro said gratefully and heading to the guest room to change while everyone else went to their own rooms to do the same.

They were about to leave when Ichigo grabbed a washcloth and wet it down, "I take it you don't wash your face in the morning, Toushiro?" He said, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Toushiro said in confusion and the girls all noticed that the tear tracks were still on his face, even though his eyes were no longer puffy. "Wha-what are you doing?" He demanded when Ichigo bent down and began rubbing the cloth against his face gently but the texture of the cloth was still annoying, and the fact that Ichigo was babying him wasn't helping...

"I'm helping. You don't want everyone to see you were crying last night do you?" Ichigo said in a quiet voice so only Toushiro could hear him. The teen knew that Toushiro would probably be very irate if more than just Rukia and his sisters knew, and it didn't help that Toushiro was - no matter how much he tried to hide it - a very sensitive person that was even easier to embarrass. Ichigo was just giving a helping hand.

"I..." Toushiro turned bright red once more, "No I don't. Thanks Ichigo." he mumbled in return.

"Don't mention it, Toushiro." Ichigo sighed and put the cloth into a basket that had to be washed later after everyone was back from school.

It was on the way to school that Rukia noticed something; Toushiro wasn't correcting Ichigo on the use of his given name. She was about to mention but stopped as she also noticed that the usually tense atmosphere around the two when they were together was now almost completely gone and the dark haired shinigami couldn't help but wonder: Just _what_ happened between the two last night anyway?

Toushiro was staring at Ichigo strangely and Ichigo acted like he always did, his patented scowl on his face as soon as they appeared on the school grounds.

"ICHIIII~GOOOO!" Keigo sang, running up to them enthusiastically. Ichigo raised his arm and the brown haired boy's face hit into his upper arm before Keigo fell backwards with swirlies in his eyes.

"Ohaiyou Ichigo, Hitsugaya-san, Rukia." Mizuiro said in an oddly cheerful voice.

"Ohaiyou." Toushiro said distractedly as he went to his seat and looked deep in thought.

"Ohaiyou Mizuiro." Ichigo and Rukia said together, both looking at the snowy haired captain in concern as Rangiku danced in.

"Oh Cap~tain!" She sang, pulling the startled Toushiro into a bone crushing hug, "Where were you last night? Yumichika and Ikkaku said you were at Ichigo's house but I don't believe it!" Rangiku said brightly.

Toushiro struggled to get his face out of her breast and gasped when he finally managed, glaring at her and pulling out of her death grip. "I _was_ at Ichigo's house, Matsumoto. In fact I'm kinda glad it was there and nowhere else last night." He snapped at first but mumbled at the end just loud enough for his group to hear.

"What's he talking about?" Renji demanded, whirling to glare at Ichigo suspiciously.

"Why do you assume I had anything to do with it?" Ichigo said dully, smirking ever so slightly.

"Well you guys seemed pretty _cozy_ this morning, Ichigo." Rukia said, rolling her eyes.

"Shut it, Kuchiki!" Toushiro said, glaring at the black haired girl, causing everyone to stare at him... well, except Ichigo, he actually looked kind of amused with his sudden change in mood.

"I... sorry." Rukia said weakly, blinking stupidly.

"No, I'm sorry." Toushiro sighed, rubbing his eyes to rid the frustration. "I shouldn't have snapped like that." He suddenly glared at Ichigo, who was smirking and trying not to laugh, "And what, exactly, do you find so funny Ichigo?"

"Nothing. Why are you so defensive Toushiro?" Ichigo said, raising an amused eyebrow.

"I'm not defensive." Toushiro said darkly, glaring.

"Believe what you will, Toushiro." Ichigo said, sighing and leaning against a desk.

Before anyone could press the matter Ochi-sensei came in and shouted for them to take their seats. Ichigo still had that infuriating smirk on his face because of Toushiro's obvious embarrassment. Everyone else was highly confused at why the two were acting so different.

'_Stupid Ichigo. Why's he so cheery anyway?_' Toushiro thought scornfully but there was no heart in it at all as he remembered the night before, how Ichigo had helped him, how he didn't tell anyone because he knew Toushiro deserved privacy in that moment that he'd broken down. That moment when Toushiro had acted like the child he looked like.

Fragile, sensitive... broken.

That's what he was last night. Toushiro's heart had been shattered and he was embarrassed and ashamed at how he'd immediately latched onto the closest thing that offered comfort: Ichigo. The snowy haired boy would be forever grateful that Ichigo had been there and no one else, that he could trust Ichigo not to say anything unless Toushiro said he could, and that he knew the older (at least physically) boy wouldn't tease him for it - though the silent teasing for his obvious embarrassment _was_ annoying...

Toushiro sighed and slowly felt himself relax. Rukia had struck a nerve with her teasing, even though it hadn't been directed at him, but at Ichigo. It was still enough to embarrass Toushiro nearly as much as the incident last night itself, enough to make him instinctively go on the defensive. And he felt bad for snapping at her, for then acting so cold when Ichigo went to calm down his still confused and raging emotions... no matter how odd his methods were.

'_Laughing... who would have thought that the thought of someone _laughing_ at me could possibly calm me down?_' Toushiro thought with a tinge of amused annoyance, hand twitching ever so slightly towards where Hyorinmaru was usually strapped to his back. He was itching to blow off some steam, the emotion from his dreams last night, the fear and frustration at himself and something as _insignificant_ as thunder, the raging confusion and fear that even more of the memories of his past life would suddenly spring up on him...

And it was no wonder he had stopped growing when his body reached the physical age of 10! Toushiro had died when he was 10 years old... '_Alright Hitsugaya! Stop thinking and just pay attention to the teacher!_' he shouted at himself, feeling a lump of emotion build up in his throat, his fists tightening so much that his nails dug into his palms and threatened to bite into his skin, his jaw setting as he forced himself to look straight ahead.

Ichigo noticed before even Rangiku did as he tossed a concerned glance at his snowy haired friend, '_I wonder what's wrong with him..._' the orange haired teen thought worriedly.

**"He's distressed, King. What else could his problem be?"** Shiro drawled sarcastically in the back of his head.

'_Thanks for the input captain obvious._' Ichigo returned, rolling his eyes at his hollow. '_I meant as in _why_ is he distressed!_' He raged, tossing another looked at his friend.

**"You humans have way too many emotions."** Shiro said lightly, boredly spinning his zanpakuto around by the cloth. **"Hey, do you wanna play a game, King?"** He said out of nowhere.

'_Uhm... why?_' Ventured a cautious Ichigo.

**"Because I'm **_**bored**_**, obviously."** The white figure at the back of Ichigo's mind sent an annoyed scowl at him.

"Obviously." Ichigo mimicked quietly before suddenly having to duck a flying book.

"What was that Kurosaki? Did you say something about the lecture?" Man, Ochi-sensei was also acting so defensive over a stupid lecture that Ichigo's not even paying attention to.

"No sensei, I was talking... to myself." Ichigo winced at the strange looks he was getting and Ochi-sensei tossed him an annoyed look full of suspicion. Shirosaki laughed maniacally.

'_You did that on purpose_.' Ichigo accused.

**"Because I'm **_**bored**_**, King!"** Shiro whined. **"I already told you that!"**

Ichigo twitched in annoyance and Toushiro, Rukia, Renji, and Rangiku all sent him an amused look, obviously knowing he was talking about his hollow. Damned bastards.

Well, at least Toushiro wasn't sulking anymore.

Sighing, Ichigo turned his attention back to the lecture but soon lulled off into a slight doze...

Toushiro felt himself relax at his orange haired friend's inner hollow's always welcome - at least to him and Ukitake - dose of humor and blinked as he glanced back at Ichigo to find his head propped up by his hand but brown eyes closed in a light sleep, breathing perfectly even and posture totally relaxed... at least until a piece of chalk came soaring at him.

Ichigo's whole being tensed up and his hand rose, catching the piece of chalk deftly... in his sleep. Everyone stared as Ichigo blinked himself awake blearily and noticed their looks, "Huh? What's everyone lookin' at?" he mumbled sleepily, tilting his head to the side and looking at the chalk in his hand with a stupid look on his face. It seemed that the instincts from fighting in the current war had followed him to class... "Oh." The orange haired boy deadpanned.

Ochi-sensei twitched but got on with her lesson, shooting the blank-faced Ichigo annoyed looks every few minutes to make sure he wasn't sleeping again.

Ichigo was sleeping within his inner world, Toushiro mused with a slight smirk. The teen had the strangest places to sleep sometimes but hey, if it kept him from getting in trouble for sleeping in class, who was he to judge?

He held in a wince as there was suddenly a roll of thunder. Damned human storms and their damned thunder.

"Can I be excused?" Toushiro asked, raising his hand.

"Huh? Why?" Ochi-sensei asked with a frown.

"I'm... not feeling very well." He said stiffly. Ochi-sensei nodded slowly and handed him a pass. Toushiro left after giving a wary glance at the unconscious Ichigo and a warning one to Rangiku. If he ended up breaking again he didn't want _her_ to see it, after all. You never know what Rangiku would do if she saw someone like _him_ breaking down.

Probably bring a whole group to try and calm him down.

On sheer instinct he ended up at Ichigo's again, getting inside just as the rain started.

"Huh? Who's here?" A voice called and Ichigo's dad appeared at the doorway that separated the clinic from the house. "Oh, what are you doing here Hitsugaya-san?" Ishiin said stupidly.

"No reason in particular. I just felt ill and here was closer then Inoue's apartment." Toushiro said emotionlessly and the man nodded in seeming understanding.

"If ya need anything, I'll be in the clinic." Ishiin said finally though there was still a bit of suspicion in his eyes as he turned a left quickly. Toushiro always felt that the man was hiding something...

_**BOOM!**_

Toushiro winced. Of all the fears to have it had to be _thunder_... what a blow to his pride.

Making his way quickly to the guest room he'd been sleeping in the day before he sat on the bed, closed his eyes, and tried - failed - to block out the constantly rumbling from above. Why did this keep happening? He wondered briefly, sighing and laying back against the pillow, forcing himself to relax.

But then it hit him...

_"Toushiro-kun!" A male's voice called happily and a seven year old Toushiro spun around to run to his father. "Come 'ere for a sec, I've got a present for ya!"_

_"Ah... Coming!" and he was, rushing to the building, where his father was waiting at the entrance. He stopped beside the dark haired man, who was grinning. "What is it Touchan?" Toushiro asked curiously, looking around the stable._

_"I wanna show ya somethin' kid." Mori Hitsugaya announced, his grin widening at his son's excited face. "Come on." He chuckled, leading the child to one of the stalls. "Be quiet, alrigh'? Ya don't wanna scare 'em." the man spoke gently, slowly opening the door._

_There, sitting in the hay, was Maggy, Toushiro's favorite mare on their ranch, with two beautiful foals laying beside her, asleep. "She had twins." Toushiro said softly, grinning. He looked up at his father, "Maggy had twins Touchan."_

_"Yeah... Jus' like Mama's gonna have." Mori beamed and Toushiro followed suit, "Ya wanna name 'em?" He asked as the black foal lifted its head up, staring at them with big brown eyes._

_Toushro's teal colored eyes went wide, "I getta name 'em?" He asked, looking at his father with child-like awe._

_"O'course ya-"_

_"AH!" A voice screamed and the two males of their family went wide-eyed before rushing out._

_"Fran!/Kaachan!" The two shouted together._

_Toushiro's mother had fallen down the stairs and it had caused her water to break two months early. In the end, only one of the baby's survived. And then, as they cried for the lost child, it began to rain and the thunder was the most prominent noise in the air._

_**BOOM!**_

More reason to hate thunder. More reason to feel broken. Vulnerable. And what about his sister? She wasn't in his last flashback, did she die before that? Or was she just away for the night? What happened to little, three year old Bana?

Tears fell, but this time they were relatively silent as he fell back onto the bed, holding the pillow over his ears in an attempt to block out the thunder rolling. Toushiro felt ashamed for the sudden thought, but he wished Ichigo was there to make him feel safe and secure again, pride aside. His pride could go die now for all he cared, it was already trashed enough. Not even killing an Espada would restore it, after all the crying he'd done in just the past two days.

He felt pathetic. He shouldn't rely on Ichigo for comfort - gods knows the teen already had enough responsibility and troubles on his shoulders - thunder shouldn't affect him so much, and he shouldn't allow himself to break down so easily. Toushiro rolled onto his side and fell into a fitful sleep that Hyorinmaru had lulled him into, to help him relax and get his mind off of the memories.

_**Ends!**_

So far it seems that people want them to be brotherly so I guess that's what I'll go with for now! But no worries, the options are still open for vote and this chapter was pretty much just to portray more of that... brotherly feel to Ichi and Shiro-chan's relationship. And what about our favorite captain's sister? I just _had_ to put something like that in here! ~squeals

Also, I'd like to thank Black Cat Angel for your idea and to say it'll probably be put in here in maybe the next chapter, maybe the chapter after but it _will_ be in here. It's just too great to pass up _not_ putting it in here!

Anyways... I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews and also your votes. I always enjoy the feedback!

Hmm... I guess this week any flames I might get (because you never know when you might get one!) will be used to make smorez for Hikaru, Kurai, Taiyö, and myself! ^.^

Byes everyone!

-Edit: Friday, September 24, 2010-

Yeah, I edited some pesky grammer and spelling mistakes, the terms 'female horse' and 'baby horse' have been changed to 'mare' and 'foals' respectively (and I thank you very much for pointing that out to me Emaleya^.^), and also gave Toushiro's dad Mira a bit more of an accent and of course Toushiro would pick it up when he was alive so it's very slight but in flashbacks it'll be there.

So yeah, I'll try and post the next chapter up soon as I've finally gotten inspiration for the next chapter (when I was with my boyfriend at McDonalds of all places ;) ) but there's still school I have to worry about _and_ after school activities like volley ball and one act! L

Well anyways, thanks for reading my story!

Byes again!


	3. Thoughts of a Memory

_**Thoughts of a Memory...**_

In a room somewhere in Las Noches a dark brown haired, green eyed arrancar boredly tossed a tenniss ball that he'd stolen from the human world up in the air, catching it before tossing it up once again.

Glynn was getting impatient.

A few weeks ago when the cuatro, Ulquorra, did that creepy eye/memory thing, he had seen a familiar face. At the time he hadn't been sure why it was familar, but Glynn had felt an odd compulsion to go and rip his throat out. Or at least stab him. And then, randomly, it had hit him like a ton of bricks. The white haired boy was the last person he'd killed before being hanged for several accounts of murder!

And the discovery had only fueled the arrancar's desire to kill the boy, who he now knew was a captain, but Aizen had said to 'wait' until a distraction was 'needed' for whatever the hell it would be needed for! It pissed him off to no end! If there wasn't already a seventh espasa that would totally be Glynn's position! He was a strong being by nature, even as a living human he'd been stronger than the norm! So why the hell wouldn't Aizen let him go to the human world to kill the brat again?

Why make him wait?

Glynn tossed the ball up again and caught it deftly as it came back down, frowning. Sometimes, Aizen really pissed him off. He tossed it back up, his frown deepening into a scowl, and sat up as he caught it.

He needed to kill something.

Glynn needed to kill Toushiro Hitsugaya.

Ichigo stretched his neck to the left, rubbing out the knots as he walked along-side Rukia and towards home. He had been worried most of the day, with the rain and how he'd learned from Rangiku after waking up that Toushiro had left in a hurry not even two hours into class. He'd instantly homed in on his friend's reiatsu, noting in slight fondness that Toushiro had gone back to his house and he was sleeping, if the way his energy flowed around the area in calmed, peaceful bursts... a sign that he was asleep.

Not many knew, but Ichigo was better at sensing reiatsu than even the Captain-commander of the Gotei 13 and wasn't nearly as stupid as he made himself seem. His hollow and his zanpakutou, not to mention the vizards when he'd met them about a month before going to save Rukia, had made sure of that a _long_ time ago. Ichigo just liked being underestimated and - according to Shiro and Shinji - enjoyed physical pain _way_ too much to be healthy.

Ichigo yanwned, wrinkling his nose as a bit of rain started to drizzle the streets from the heavens above them once more. Great... more rain. He huffed, ignoring Rukia's amused smile, and blew some hair from his face in annoyance. "I hate rain."

"I know you do." Rukia replied, nodding in acceptance.

Ichigo twitched once but then they arrived at his house, "So, when are you gonna bring Orihime home from Seireitei?"

"She's making a lot of progress under Unohana's teachings and I'm heading back tonight to help continue her combat training." Rukia smiled, enjoying the change in subject as they entered the home, ducking Ishiin's flying kick that had been aimed for Ichigo's head.

"Stupid old man." Ichigo muttered as he walked up the stairs, an amused Rukia following close behind. He knocked on the guest room door and then walked in in time to see Toushiro blinking hazily, rubbing his eyes with a fist as the other stretched above his head accompanied by a yawn. "Good afternoon, Sleepy Head." Ichigo said in amusement as he strode in with a confused Rukia right behind.

"Mornin'..." Toushiro mumbled quietly, blinking a few times before noting where he was and turning a light pink, "Uh... here was closer than Orihime's." he defended weakly.

Ichigo grinned slightly and ruffled the little captain's hair, earning an annoyed protest and a death glare that would have most running but didn't affect the substitute shinigami in the slightest, "We never questioned your motives, Toushiro." teased the berry breifly before sitting at the foot of the bed as Rukia stood near them awkwardly, still not used to the new relationship between her friend and the captain.

Toushiro grumbled something unintelligable under his breath and threw the covers off, moving to stand up. He ran a hand through his hair and stalked off to the bathroom, leaving a bemused Rukia and curious Ichigo behind.

"What did you do to him?" Rukia frowned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Nothing but listen." Ichigo said with a slight smile, walking out with a curious Rukia trailing behind him.

Toushiro locked the bathroom door behind him and stood at the sink. He looked at himself in the mirror closely, noting the slight redness under his eyes and his disheveled hair. With a frown the captain turned on the faucet, running cold water and cupping his hands under it.

He couldn't help but smile ever so slightly as the cold washed over his hands, filling them before he splashed his face with it and repeated a couple times, the last time running his hands up and through his hair, fixing it from the bed-headed appearal. Toushiro looked at his reflection once more and sighed. He couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened to his baby sister.

Did Bana make it? Was she still alive after all these years? Did she grow old and have chlidren of her own? Where was she in his first flashback? Did she die of sickness when she was still a baby? What about after he, his father, and step mother - as his birth mother died in childbirth with Bana - died?

Add to his doubts, he couldn't help but feel that something bad was gonna happen. Something _really_ bad.

With a sigh, Toushiro ran a hand through his hair again before turning off the sink and turning to head out and back to his current room. Because really, if he was gonna keep coming here he should just move in with the infuriating berry and his family.

"You're still here?" he asked in annoyance, seeing Ichigo leaning against the doorframe, talking with Rukia and talking about school.

Ichigo smirked at him, "Oh, we're just talking. Go ahead and get changed if you want..." his smirk grew ever so slightly, "We'll be right here when you're ready to go meet with Kisuke."

Toushiro's eyes widened imperceptibly. He totally forgot about meeting with Urahara! Tossing the duo a glare he rushed back into the room and slammed the door in his hurry to get changed into the spare clothes that... had somehow gotten there... god, that's just creepy.

"You shouldn't tease him so much. He is a captain after all." Rukia said sternly to her friend.

"Mah, he's fine." Ichigo said dismissively, scratching his head and mostly ignoring her in favor of talking with Zangetsu. "Besides, we really _do_ have to meet with Kisuke soon."

Rukia rolled her eyes and straightened out her skirt, "And I have to get back to Soul Society to help train Orihime."

"I'm ready, let's go." Toushiro said gruffly, opening the door and walking pointedly down the steps, a exsasperated Rukia and an annoyed Ichigo trailing behind him.

A/N; I know I know! It's terribly short and after such a long wait it's not much, but I had to find a way to get a basis for the next few chapters going or it would take even longer than this! Again, thanks to Black Cat Angel for giving me an idea on how to keep this story going!

I apologize for the title, okay? I'm trying to stick to the 'memory' and stuff theme, k?

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and please keep it coming! I love hearing what you think about my story!

Oh, and this chap any flames (even though I haven't gotten any yet) will be used to make... Hm, Hikaru! What should we use the flames for?

_I don't know! Cookies?_

...Whatever, that's the best we've got! Flames this chapter will be used to bake cookies!

Byes everyone!


	4. Icy Confusion

_**A Gray Memory... Huh, that's kinda morbid, isn't it?**_

Rangiku danced into Urahara's shop with Renji following slowly behind her not five minutes after they had gotten there. "Cap~tain!" she sang cheerfully, grabbing Toushiro in another bear hug like that morning, "How are you feeling? You're not sick from all the work are you?" she gushed, releasing him and suddenly turning very serious, "I've told you many times that you need to take some vacation time and relax, but do you listen to me? No! You only want to work work work!" and then she was complaining once more. Sigh, why was Matsumoto like that anyway?

As Rangiku continued to fret over her captain's health, Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia were talking to Urahara about random things as they waited for the others to arrive.

Slowly, ticks began to appear on Toushiro's head before, finally, he snapped, "Alright! I'll take a vacation if you stop lecturing me like a little kid!" he shouted and panted as he calmed down from his tirade and sighed, looking off to the side and out the window as he muttered, "Gomen."

Rangiku got such a bright smile that they were almost afraid to tell her that they probably wouldn't actually get the vacation for at least another two months or so. Which, according to the wayward luitenant, was too long of a wait.

Toushiro joined the conversation about different tactics as they waited for Yumichika and Ikkaku to show up so they could finish their planning before sending Rukia off to the Soul Society to finish training Orihime once more.

"Sorry we're so late." Yumichika said pompously as he came into the room and sat down beside Renji with an irrate Ikkaku stomping in behind him and sitting down as well, "Ikkaku's new... girlfriend is a bit clingy." he was obviously trying not to laugh and Toushiro sighed.

This was gonna be _long_ day.

- A Few Hours -

Toushiro had broke away from the group to think as soon as he could. The white haired captain was sitting at the edge of the river that ran through Karakura, his sandals kicked off and his knees pulled to his chest, the water splashing his feet randomly as he stared at the sky that was filling with stars. Feeling lost and confused...

"Rangiku's worried about you." Ichigo's voice startled his from his thoughts and Toushiro slowly looked up at him before looking back at the moon and stars reflecting in the water.

"I'm not a child." he muttered softly, "She doesn't need to worry about me."

Ichigo sighed and sat down beside him, staring up at the sky. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, he glanced at the small captain to find him frowning up at the sky. "A penny for your thoughts?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

Toushiro blinked and looked at him for a second before running a hand through his hair, "I don't know. I just feel like something's supposed to happen now that I remember more of my life as a human." he let out a breath and looked at the stary sky once more, "I guess I'm just confused is all."

Ichigo nodded in slow understanding and laid back on the cool grass, his bare feet completely in the water as he stretched out, "I guess that explains why you're so reserved since we picked you up after school." He glanced at the captain, who was looking at him once more, "But that's not all, is it?"

Toushiro didn't answer but turned towards the water once more in a show of how he didn't want to talk.

Ichigo didn't push for an answer. He just accepted the snowy haired boy's silence.

Besides, if Toushiro wanted to talk than he'll do it when he's ready.

"I guess I should head home." Ichigo said after another five minutes of sitting in comfortable silence, standing and pulling his shoes on after drying his feet, "Talk to ya tomorrow, Toushiro." he waved and turned around after Toushiro offered a small, absentminded wave in return, and walked home.

- In the Shadows -

Glenn watched his target, watched the orange haired kid that Grimmjow was so obsessed with show up and talk with him, and eyed him suspisciously as the kid walked away. He didn't know what it was, maybe the fact that Grimm was so infatuated with him, but Glenn didn't like the mere _thought_ of that Kurosaki kid. He was odd and he was a human with no right to have powers, let alone shinigami _and_ hollow powers... Well, the arrancar just didn't like him.

Yes, Glenn was a very bitter person and could hold a grudge for even longer than Nnoitra, the fifth Espada.

But Glenn wouldn't attack. For now, he'd just watch. That's what he did. He was always watching. Learning his target's weaknesses and strengths... Learning how to break them down. And he would break Toushiro Hitsugaya if it was the last thing he did. And then... then he would go in for the kill.

He licked his lips in anticipation and silently followed his target towards his current home in the apartment of one Orihime Inoue where he stayed with his luietenant and the third and fifth seats of squad eleven.

Oh yes, this was gonna be fun.

A lot of fun.

Well, what can I say? This was more of a filler, really. Just a bit more brotherly love, maybe a bit of jealousy on Glenn's part, some good ol' Rangiku randomness, and more innocent confusion for little Shiro-chan!

Before I go I'd like to thank all those who've reviewed or even just put my story on their alert and/or favorites lists and give you all some digital apple pie because, really, who doesn't like apple pie?

Flames will be used to bake mud pies and fed to my evil plot bunny named Ralph so please don't make me feed them to him or else he'll come after _you_ personally... hahah, just kidding!


	5. Downpoor of Thoughts

_**Down Poor of Thoughts...**_

Grimmjow's eyebrow twitched as he watched Glynn stride past him, muttering insanely to himself about things too trivial for him to care about, and totally ignoring the fact that he'd just been asked a question by the sexta.

As Glynn walked away, a tick appeared on his forehead, "OI DUMBASS!" He shouted and the green eyed arrancar froze and slowly turned to look at him.

"H-Hai, Grimmjow-sama?" He said nervously, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"I asked where you keep going off to!" Grimmjow seethed, rubbing a hand along the broken mask on his jaw, his scowl deepening, "And don't call me that!"

"B-but why, Grimmjow-sama?" Glynn returned, horrified at the thought.

"Because it's creepy, asshole!" the sexta snarled, "Now answer the question!" Obviously, he wasn't in a very good mood.

"I found a new target!" said Glynn gleefully, completely forgetting the prior tenseness.

Grimmjow, who usually liked the thought of fighting and hearing the screams of his victims, blanched, "Good luck with that," he intoned dryly, ignoring his rage in favor of getting away from his insane stalker.

Glynn beamed as the espada walked away, happy with the some-what nice, if not toneless, wish of good fortune.

After a few minutes he went back to muttering the little plans of torture for his last mortal kill that was his very own kind of sick pleasure.

Toushiro groaned and rolled over in his place on the couch. There was that ever pressent feeling of dread again... Maybe it was the strange dream that the man who'd kill'd him was somewhere near by, just waiting to get him alone?

He pushed himself up just in time to be pulled into a bear hug, "Captain!" Rangiku wailed, "Are you alright? You're all sweaty and you were mumbling in your sleep!" She fretted over her child-like captain, checking him for invisible injury and ranting about this being affects of stress, even though they _had_ agreed to the vacation already. Maybe she knew that they had to wait and wanted to boost it ahead a bit? Meh, he'd think after he was fully awake.

"I'd be even better after a shower." He said dryly and she pulled away sheepishly.

"Alright captain, you go get ready for school and stuff and I'll start making breakfast!" she danced away and to the kitchen, leaving him to stand up and head to the bathroom.

He inwardly groaned, honestly, Toushiro didn't mind Rangiku, in fact, she's what kept him grounded from all the stress along with Momo back in Seireitei, but she was a _horrible_ cook that had been taking cooking lessons from _Orihime_ who made the oddest and most disgusting little dishes known to man.

/Relax child./ Hyourinmaru cut in from the depths of his mind as Toushiro began undressing, /You can always eat something else on the way to school./ And that's another thing... _'Do I have to go to school?'_ there was a pause and then an amused smirk appeared in the back of his head, /Now you actually _do_ sound like a little kid./

A small, dubious smile appeared on Toushiro's face while he turned on the water, "Huh, what do ya know." He muttered, "You can make jokes." All he got was a small scoff before he was left alone to take his shower in peace, forgetting about his worried thanks to the small, if not odd conversation with his zanpakutou.

"ICHII~GOO!" amber eyes snapped open and a hand shot up, catching the feet of his father just inches from his face, and tossing him out the window. "WHY?" Ishiin wailed before he landed in a rose bush with a yelp.

"Stupid old man." Ichigo mumbled, running a hand through his hair, closing his eyes tiredly. For some strange reason, he couldn't sleep last night. Maybe it was the knot the clenched in his stomach every time he thought about what Toushiro had said at the river. Did he really think that something bad was gonna happen now that he knew? The thought made Ichigo worry because usually Toushiro's tuition was correct.

He sat up slowly and went about his morning routine of taking a shower, getting dressed, and brushing his teeth before heading downstairs for one of Yuzu's delicious breakfasts.

The berry could worry about the foreboding after he wasn't so hungry.

It wasn't until lunch that he met up with Toushiro, who was scowling a new one at Yumichika and Rangiku, who in turn, were glaring at each other, that the feeling actually came back.

"Troubles in paradise, Toushiro?" Ichigo said in amusement.

"Don't start with me, too." Toushiro grumbled back, muttering curses under his breath.

Ichigo raised his hands in defeat, "Hai hai, I'll just leave it to you to put a stop to those two troublemakers." He smirked at the dark look Toushiro sent before they both sighed and decided to just ignore the tension between their friends. They had enough worries now as it was.

"You ever feel like life's pointless?" Keigo said sulkily, showing up out of nowhere.

Ichigo blinked a few times, "Erm... are you feeling alright? You seem a bit out of it."

Keigo's eyes filled with tears and he began wailiing dramatically, "Everybody hates me! The techer said I have to turn in a one thousand word book report by tomorrow, you're always ignoring me, my parents called to talk to my sister but didn't wanna talk to me! And now Mizuiro wont stop calling me 'Asano-san'!"

Toushiro shot a look at Ichigo, which he returned, and looked at Keigo with a raised eyebrow, "If Ichigo was ignoring you, why would he ask if you're alright?" he said rhetorically.

Keigo blinked past his tears, "Really?" he said hopefully and they nodded slowly as he began exclaiming how good of friends they were. Well damn, he sure snaps back fast.

Ichigo sweatdropped; why was he even worried in the first place?

When Keigo left, it was quiet, all prior tension completely dissolved. "So," Ichigo said finally, "The vizards want me to train with them for the next week or so, you mind covering for me?"

Toushiro sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Fine, but keep your sense open in case we need you." Ichigo nodded in agreement.

Rangiku began exclaiming about things that went over Ichigo's head but Toushiro obviously understood if the ticks appearing on his forehead were any indication. Okay, dread is still there but, Ichigo decided, things should be able to play out in the end... he hoped, anyway.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very short but I've had a hard week and this chapter was _soo_ hard to write! I had to find a way for Ichigo to be with the vizards for when... things happen... ~shitfy eyes~ Anyway! I hope you can forgive the crappy chappy and that you'll still review!

Flames'll be used to cook all of Orihime's strange dishes and be focefed to anyone I can find! So please, don't torture people unneccessarily ~smiles innocently

Byes! :D


	6. Tortured Mind, Tortured Soul

_**Tortured Mind, Tortured Soul...**_

Toushiro jumped from roof top to roof top, lost in his thoughts, as he made his way towards the Urahara Shoten. They had gotten word that something fishy was going on around Karakura lately and were getting orders as soon as they arrived. He sure hoped that it wasn't because of his bad feeling...

Shaking his head as he landedat the door to the Shoten, Toushiro entered and huffed a bit.

"Hello Captain!" Rangiku chirped, suddenly pulling him into a hug, shoving his face into her breasts and causing him to try breaking free, flailing his arms and pulling away before glaring at her.

"Matsumoto, please, we're here for our orders. Not for you to suffocate me in your cleavage." he said icily before stalking to the usual meeting place in the shop.

Rangiku pouted but followed after him cheerfully moments later.

An hour later, Toushiro was grumbling. It turns out that they now had to figure out what was causing the strange disturbances around the city. The head-captain thought it was an arrancar but you can never be sure these days, so they had to figure it out and terminate whatever it was.

Add to that, he'd just sent Renji off to kill a few hollows that appeared at the park a few minutes earlier...

He paused as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up but when he looked back, there was nothing there. As the little captain jumped off towards one of the main locations of the disturbances. Oddly enough, it was really close to the Kurosaki Clinic...

Toushiro never noticed the gleaming green eyes that watched him from the shadows.

- Several Minutes Later -

Matsumoto Rangiku was worried for her captain. He didn't show it, but Hitsugaya-taichou was exhausted and jittery. And he'd been having strange nightmares that he refused to tell her about, no matter how much she wanted to help. That's probably why he was so irrate, too... lack of sleep can do that to people. Especially her captain.

"Rangiku?" Ikkaku raised an eyebrow and she blinked a few times, turning to look at him with a nod of acknowledgement. "What's with the look?"

"Huh? What look?" she said, clueless.

"The ugly confused one." confided Yumichika as they ran towards their apartment, where the other main disturbance bits had been happening lately.

A tick appeared on Rangiku's cheek, "Who the hell are you callin' ugly?" she shouted angrily.

Ikkaku of all people let out a sigh of exasperation as his best friend and the lieutenant began fighting. Again.

And he didn't even get his answer about the look, either.

Ikkaku was about to mention this when they all three froze. Hitsugaya-taichou's reiatus just spiked in a rather panicked fashion and they didn't like it. In fact, it worried them.

The three shared a look and were about to rush off, when a dark voice spoke up behind them. "Oh? And where do you think you're going?"

They turned slowly to find an arrancar and two Vasto Lorde.

* * *

Renji groaned in frustration as he took off towards a random location at the park to kill a Hollow that had appeared. He was _supposed_ to be with Captain Hitsugaya to help investigate what was with the strange disturbances near Ichigo's home, but _nooo_, there had to be a freakin' A class hollow that appeared out of nowhere! And the captain had sent him to take care of it.

He wouldn't have _too_ much trouble with it, but damn, it sure was annoying.

The lieutenant was just finishing it off when there was a sudden flux of reiatsu. Captain Hitsugaya's reiatsu.

But when Renji turned to go see if he could get there in time to help, an arrancar with a long face and dark blue hair and yellow eyes appeared in front of him, a cocky smile on his face.

Great, this is just what he needed.

* * *

"Damn it!" Toushiro hissed as he jumped back, narrowly avoiding being hit with what appeared to be a blue cero. He raised his zanpakutou in time to block a strike and looked up to meet sinister green eyes. "Who the hell are you?" he growled, pushing back his assailant.

The arrancar smiled innocently, "You don't remember me, eh Shiro-chan?" he ran a hand through his hair mockingly, "I mean, I know I looked different, but I felt that you should. After all..." he grinned maliciously, "I am the one who killed you."

Toushiro felt himself go cold as his eyes widened and he hardly had enough time to react as the raven haired arrancar shot at him, their blades clashing in a shower of sparks and causing the little captain to be pushed back several feet.

"Aw, don't look so scared, Shiro-chan!" Glynn cackled as he jumped back, "I'm only here to kill you!" and he shot forward once more.

The captain was hard-pressed to block every strike as the arrancar came at him with very powerful attacks that were almost too fast for him to follow. Eventually, he found an opening and took it, throwing Glynn away from him as he jumped back to gain some breathing room.

Foregoing releasing his sword, Toushiro raised his blade, "Bankai!" he called, feeling the familiar weight of the icy wings one his shoulders, "Daiguren Hyourinmaru."

Glynn gave a grin worthy of his favorite Espada, "Ah, so you're finally starting to get serious, eh? Might as well do the same." He may be many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. He knew that Toushiro, despite being so small, was a captain and he wasn't arrogant enough to think that he could take on a captain, someone who he'd killed or not, when they were in bankai. He grinned and held his blade horizontal to the ground, "Soar and Kill!" he called, loving the way that his 'prey's' eyes went wide, "Shi tori(1)!"

There was a flash of light and then Glynn stood there. His hair was now a few inches longer and looked more like feathers and he had large black wings while his mask was now covering most of his body in a sort of suit. "Well what d'ya know, seems we both have wings now." he taunted before suddenly vanishing.

Toushiro's eyes went wide for the thousandth time today as he turned to block but was too late, getting a large gash on his stomach while he was flung through a building. "Damn it..." he breathed, pulling himself out of the rubble. It was only luck that the house he'd crashed into was for sale and no one lived in it.

He raised his blade in time to stop the possibly fatal blow that would have hit him and sent an ice dragon at the arrancar. As Toushiro jumped back after slashing through some of Glynn's armor, he winced as another gash appeared on his shoulder. Looking up quickly, he rolled out of the way.

This went on for several minutes, exchanging blows and both getting more and more wounds that got even more fatal as time went, before Toushiro suddenly found himself backed into a corner.

* * *

Ichigo was about to fire off a kidou spell, that Hachi had taught him this morning, at Hiyori when he suddenly froze, making the vizards blink at him. Since when did Ichigo stop in the middle of a spar?

"Berritan?" Mashiro said in confusion from her place beside Kensei.

"Did you feel that?" Ichigo asked with a sudden sharpness that startled them.

Hiyori scowled and leant back, resting her zanpakutou on her shoulder, "Feel what, Dumbass?" she demanded, annoyed that the berry had stopped their fight.

"I'm not sure..." bright amber eyes filled with an unreadable emotion, "But I've got a bad feeling about it."

Shinji sighed at his wariness, it was almost like when they first started training the kid last month, "I'm sure it was either nothing or that stupid intuition thing most fighters have every once in a while."

"Yeah, you're probably- There it is again." He said abruptly, looking up wearily before looking at them with a worried scowl, "Are you _sure_ you don't feel it?"

"You worry to much, Kurosaki." Lisa muttered from her place on the ground, flipping a page in her magazine boredly, "I'm sure whatever it is, your shinigami friends will take care of it."

"And if it's an arrancar?" demanded the berry.

"Ah, stop whining and get back to training!" Hiyori commanded angrily.

"Berritan's just worried, Hiyori-chan!" Mashiro said energetically to defend her 'Berritan' as she so liked to put it.

"Shut up, Mashiro." Kensei sighed.

"But Kensei! Don't be so mean!" she returned, flailing her arms childishly.

The white haired vizard ignored her and looked at Ichigo as Rose and Love didn't seem to wish any part of this, Lisa didn't really care, and Hachi was upstairs focusing on the barrier, "If yer so worried about it, why not just take a break and go check it out?" he suggested 'missing' the annoyed look that Hiyori gave him, the exasperated sigh that Shinji gave, and the squeal about how he actually did care from Mashiro.

"Yeah..." Ichigo mumbled, glancing around the smoking training area, "I needed a break anyway."

As the berry turned to walk up the stairs, Hiyori snarled out, "Fine! But you're picking up lunch before coming back!"

With a sigh, Ichigo raised a hand over his shoulder while walking up the steps, "Yeah, yeah..." he grumbled, only to get a sandal thrown at his head and make his fall forward, hitting his head on the steps. He shot up, "What the hell, Snaggletooth!"

Hiyori simply smirked as he turned away and walked back up.

He nodded to Hachi as he left and the moment he stepped through the barrier, his head shot in the direction of his house. "Toushiro..." Ichigo whispered before taking off as fast as he could. Damn it, the reiatsu all around him seemed so panicky...

* * *

Rangiku was fighting the arrancar and winning. Barely. Every time she attacked, she was was almost always hit with the counterattack that, while not as strong as her own, were starting to weigh down on her. It was only luck that this SOB was so slow compared to her.

Glancing at Ikkaku and Yumichika, she found that the former was holding his own better than she herself while the latter seemed to be having just as much trouble as she was against the Vasto Lorde both the two males were fighting.

Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore just how panicked her captain's reiatsu was becoming so she could focus. It wasn't helping and only made her movements more frantic, less controlled and easier for the hollow to get under her defenses.

Damned hollows.

* * *

Renji was annoyed. As soon as he had _finally _defeated the stupid arrancar he'd been fighting, a few fresh wounds littering his person but nothing to serious, another la garganta had opened only a few feet from where he'd stood. And then guess what happened. Go on, guess!

That's right! A _dozen_ hollows, all around C class, came out and attacked him! And whenever he killed one, two more filled it's place.

_'Well,'_ he decided as he sliced through three more,

_'I guess Captain Hitsugaya'll have ta handle whoever that strong reiatsu belongs to by himself...'_

_

* * *

_

Toushiro forced himself not to cry out when a cero that had been compressed to around the size of his own small fists was shot at his stomach, punching a hole straight through him.

He jumped back, leaning against a wall for support as he held his stomach. "Shit... at this rate..." the little captain didn't even want to finish that thought as he painfully pushed off the wall in time for it to be destroyed by another attack.

Toushiro was punched back and flew back from the power behind it, placing a hand on the ground to slow his tumbling and skidding to a halt.

Glynn was grinning madly, obviously having fun despite the multiple wounds that littered his body and the fact that his entire right arm was frozen solid, one wrong move and it would shatter to nothing... The bastard was enjoying this, Toushiro grimaced as he held Hyourinmaru in front of him in a defensive position.

Truthfully, Glynn really was having the time of his life as he slowly managed to get through his target's defenses. Bit by bit, he cut little Toushiro down. He sustained wounds, probably fatal ones if he didn't get them fixed soon, but he didn't care. That just added to the thrill of being able to break the little boy that he so clearly remembered killing that stormy September night...

"You remember it," he said evenly, causing Toushiro to look up at him suspiciously, "The way it felt as I brought my knife down... All the sounds you heard as you lost your ability to breathe. The thudding of your heart slowly beginning to still and then stop. Your ragged breathing as you tried to stay alive..."

He walked forward almost casually as he spoke, idly twirling his blade between his fingers and enjoying how Toushiro began to tremble, suddenly losing his ability to move. Probably from both blood loss, his little poison, and the shock and fear he most likely felt as his once upon a time murderer walked towards him with a horrifying aloofness, Glynn mused as he stopped walking when he was directly in front of his prey.

"When I first started to remember, I wanted nothing more than to torture you painfully because, really, my killing you is mostly how I got caught. But then, almost yesterday really, I decided it would be more fun..." He knelt down to the little captain's level, his evil green staring into horrified teal, "If I just broke you." He smiled almost serenely, "I'm very good at torture, Shiro-chan." he stood up and turned away, walking several paces before speaking once more, "Physical." he took another step away, "Mental." he took another step before grinning and turning to him, "And emotional." he shrugged in a sort of bragging fashion, "You could almost call me Aizen's personal torture and interrogation expert."

"But really, I don't need to tell you this." he said rather mockingly. "After all, when I'm done with you, you wont even _want_ to live anymore." green eyes glinted in the sunlight, "And then I will kill you. Slowly and painfully."

Toushiro stared at him warily, his horror slowly fading away into a low and gratifying acceptance that he was going to die here. He couldn't move. There was a paralyses poison on Glynn's blade. He couldn't speak. It was too painful. He didn't cry. He couldn't appear any more weak in front of his opponent. He couldn't even sense any of the surrounding energies of the people he knew lived in the houses surrounding the yard of the home that had become his and Glynn's battle ground. He was too out of it to try.

But the acceptance soon turned to guilt and pain and that same bitter brokenness that had been haunting him for nearly a week now were back full force when Glynn began speaking once more.

"So tell me, Shiro-chan, how's your sister?" the arrancar was a freakin' sadist, Toushiro decided as he looked up at him with shock filled eyes, "Oh? You didn't think I'd know about her? Please, I always looked up the history and family of my targets. It's just my luck that little Bana wasn't there when I arrived to kill you. Her death would have made mine all the more sweet."

The arrancar was swinging his sword by a little thread attached to the hilt casually in a way that Ichigo would have said looked a little too much like his inner hollow to be healthy. "But you know why I came after your family, don't you Shiro-chan?"

Toushiro stared back at him, suddenly feeling desperate for the answer to the question that had been haunting his dreams since that night at the Kurosaki-clinic.

Glynn gave another nasty grin as he ran a hand through his hair, "It was a sunny afternoon. I had just gotten home from killing a man who'd owed me money but refused to pay, when you suddenly rode past with your father on two horses, Mustangs if I remember correctly, and you and your steed trampled right over my mother's flower garden. If it had happened years earlier, I wouldn't have cared." His gleeful look suddenly turned to an angry one as he sent another cero at him, catching Toushiro right in the shoulder and making him cry out, "But my mother had died in that garden! I spent hours a week making sure it stayed in pristine condition for her! And then you destroyed it in a span of six minutes!" He pointed his blade at Toushiro, "You and your precious 'Tou-san' killed the only thing I had left of my mother!"

Suddenly, his grin returned, "Really though, you've got no one to blame for your family's death but yourself." He was satisfied at the pain that filled those teal colored eyes at the proclamation, "If you hadn't been so _reckless_ and _carefree_ when you were alive, your family would still be alive and you wouldn't be such a short little captain, yes?"

"N-no... I was just a kid... I-I couldn't have..." Toushiro felt himself break into pieces yet again but he refused to let any tears fall. Was it really because of him that... that his family was gone? That his sister had to grow up all alone? Oh god, please say that that wasn't true. A lone tear fell from his eyes.

"Oh, but you did anyway." Glynn continued maliciously, "You pretty much killed your own family, Shiro-chan! And you know it's true, too. I can see it in your eyes... the guilt, self loathing... are you ready to die yet, little Shiro-chan?"

Toushiro felt his bottom lip tremble along with the rest of his body as Glynn began speaking one again, "What? No answer?" he seemed annoyed with the lack of response and snarled, "I said..." he shot forward with his blade raised, "Are you ready to die yet, SHIRO-CHAN!"

There was a clang of metal and Toushiro looked up slowly to find Ichigo, in bankai, having stopped Glynn from landing a killing blow. Apparently, the poor bastard wasn't quite over the whole flower garden thing yet.

"Ichi...go...?" Toushiro whispered in surprise, finally letting more tears spill from his eyes.

* * *

(1) Death bird

Well? What do you think? Was it worth the little wait? Or maybe it was a bit rushed... I don't know, the beginning seemed rushed to me but this entire _chapter_ was so hard to write because, truthfully, I'm absolutely _horrible _at making fight scenes... Gods, it's gonna be a killer writing the next chapter and then later when they go save Orihime from Aizen... Honestly, I much prefer writing all the emotional crap be it painful emotions or happy emotions... but I guess this is where that whole saying of 'you need to expand your horizons' fits in, doesn't it?

_Hikaru: Sigh~ you're rambling, Jade._

**Karui: Yeah! Just end the chapter so we can go to bed!**

Alright! Alright! Geesh, can't you guys just leave me alone when I'm ranting and/or rambling?

Anyway! Here's a preview for next chapter because I'm just as excited to see how my next chapter turns out as you guys are!

_Preview..._

Ichigo was about to make the final strike when, out of nowhere, a burst of energy hit him in the side, sending him tumbling. As he straightened, the berry took note of the grinning blue haired arrancar he'd fought just a few weeks before standing there with only one arm, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else even with the annoying smile one his face.

He held his side as it bled freely, the orange haired teen glared at Glynn, who glared back with equal hate even as Grimmjow tossed him over his shoulder, "Dammit, Freak." the blue haired male scowled, "I told you that the berry is _my_prey! And you!" he pointed at Ichigo, "Don't you dare die before I kill you, stupid shinigami!"

"Why'd you stop me?" Ichigo asked quietly, ignoring the threatening way that Grimmjow was glaring at him in favor of wondering why said man had done so.

"Che, I didn't do it cause I like 'im." he grumbled, his glare darkening, "Aizen told me ta do it. Just be happy that I was ordered not ta fight anyone or you'd be the one lookin' like this." Grimmjow nodded at the now unconscious Glynn, who was in worse shape than Toushiro now.

And then he was gone.

Ichigo didn't contemplate Grimmjow's strange behavior as he rushed over to Toushiro, who was barely conscious and on the ground, bleeding and looking nearly dead as tears streamed down his face freely.

"Oh Toushiro... what did he do to you?"

_End of Preview..._

Well, that's all for now!

Byes!


	7. Tears of the Broken

_**Tears of the Broken...**_

Ichigo shot through the city, in bankai, as fast as his legs would carry him. He could feel Toushiro's reiatsu becoming weaker and weaker and it worried him. A lot.

He couldn't help but wonder what was happening to the little captain and immediately pushed all thoughts away when he began running different scenerios that got worse after each one, shaking his head to rid them from his mind.

He finally came to a stop just a few feet away in time to find Toushiro lying there, severely wounded, trembling, and looking about ready to cry, as the bird-like arrancar shot forward, shouting, "Are you ready to die yet, SHIRO-CHAN!"

The berry went into action quickly, getting in between the two with speed even he didn't know that he had, listening to the clang of metal that usually filled him with excitement but now filled him with dread. What did this arrancar _do_ to his friend? He knew from the angle of the blade he'd just stopped that this was meant to be the killing blow and breifly shut his eyes, pushing the wounded arrancar away.

"Ichi...go...?" he heard Toushiro whisper weakly and glanced behind him to find the snowy haired boy looking at him with what seemed to be shameful relief as tears began to spill down his cheeks in a remniscent way to that fateful night a week ago.

He smiled reassuringly, "Hey Toushiro." Ichigo tensed as he felt the arrancar's reiatsu spike up angrily and turned to look at him once more.

"You!" Glynn snarled angrily, "Why is it always YOU? You're always getting in my way! Why can't you just _stay away!_" he sent a powerful cero at the duo.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he leant down and quickly picked Toushiro up, vanishing from the spot he'd stood at with a quick flash step.

* * *

Toushiro held in the urge to throw up as Ichigo grabbed him and used a quick shunpo to avoid the attack.

It was a disconcerting feeling, side along flash step. Like stepping off a step that you'd forgotten was there, when the ground suddenly disappears from beneath your feet and for one single, horrifying moment, you think you'll fall. And then the ground is there again to reassure you just as suddenly as it had disappeared. One minute he'd been lying on the ground, the next Toushiro found himself being held against Ichigo's solid warm chest, the wind rushing through him and his stomach jerking from the sudden movement.

Ichigo gently lowered him to the ground, "Are you okay, Toushiro?" he mumbled.

"Aa..." he mumbled back in weak and no doubt false agreement. The little captain certainly didn't _feel_ alright, but he wouldn't actually tell anyone that, no matter how horrible he probably looked.

The berry looked at him doubtfully before his eyes hardened and he glared at Glynn, who glared right back. As his friend shot forward to fight the sick man, Toushiro breifly wondered what the arrancar was talking about.

It sure seemed angry at Ichigo, after all... Toushiro winced as Ichigo took a hit to the shoulder and then retaliated with a Getsuga Tensho, catching Glynn by surprise and sending him through the only remaining wall of the lot they were fighting on.

That went on for a while and Toushiro was honestly glad that he'd fought Glynn first because that made it easier for Ichigo. Way easier as the arrancar was in almost as bad of shape as him by now.

-Hueco Mundo-

"Why the hell do I need to go get that Freak!" Grimmjow snarled angrily, glaring at the espada around him, his hate lingering on the pansy that had taken his own position.

"Because he's needed, Grimmjow." Aizen said, forcing a kind smile, "And we can't let his actions go unpunished. What do you think the lesser ranked arrancar would think?"

"That doesn't explain why _I_ have to do it!" he snapped before wincing as the man raised his reiatsu to just barely bareable levels.

Ulquiorra decided to voice the answer that everyone knew and the reason why Grimmjow didn't want to go, "Glynn, for some unfathomable reason, has taken to only obeying you, Trash, be happy that we can't kill your only friend."

The former Sexta rounded on him with a growl, "What the hell! Do you honestly think I _want_ to save that creep? He's nothing more than an insufferable, disentolerable, _inconvenient_ little brat!" he said, hoping that they'd just let the sadist stalker die.

Silence falls over them as all eyes stared at the blue haired arrancar in bemusement.

"What now?" Grimmjow snarled.

Syzel raised an eyebrow, "Have you been reading the dictionary again?"

The brightly haired arrancar only growled back, looking ready to rip someone's throat out. "FINE!" he hollered, "I'll go get 'em just stop staring at me!"

Opening a garganta, he almost stepped through when Aizen called out again, "And don't pick a fight, Grimmjow."

Scowling, he went through. As he stepped out into the Living World though, he plastered on his usual grin, if only to annoy that stupid little strawberry.

* * *

Rangiku took a few shaky breaths as she finally managed to kill the arrancar she'd been fighting. She was worried again. Maybe even more so now that moments before as her captain's reiatsu suddenly dropped to a dull laze, most likely unconscious.

Truthfully, the only thing keeping her from shooting off towards him now was the fact that she now felt Ichigo near him and that she could feel that Renji was also in trouble. As she looked behind her, Rangiku noted that Ikkaku and Yumichika were staring at her, having defeated their opponent and waiting for her lead.

With a sigh, she reluctantly said, "We should go help Renji. Taichou should be alright for now."

They nodded solemnly, feeling the same way, and took off towards the park, where the other luitenant was currently fighting.

They got there and blinked. That was a _lot_ of hollows...

Noting that Renji seemed to be having trouble, the trio quickly raced in to help dispatch them.

Renji didn't seem to mind that they were butting in on his little battle feild, in fact, he seemed more relieved than anything.

_'Please be alright, Taichou...'_ Rangiku thought silently, closing her eyes momentarily as she took down a hollow.

* * *

He shot forward, finally managing to injure the arrancar enough to where he had more troubles moving. But right when he was about to make the final strike, a burst of energy hit him square in the side, sending him tumbling down the destroyed street. Stalling his fall with his hand, he straightened and then tensed at the sight of the grinning blue haired arrancar he'd fought several weeks earlier, standing there with only one arm and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else, even with that infuriating smile on his face.

Ichigo held his side as it bled freely, glaring at Glynn, who glared back with equal hate even as Grimmjow picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder, "Damned Freak." The blue haired male scowled, "I told you that the berry was _my_ prey! And you!" he suddenly pointed at Ichigo, who turned to him with a dumbfounded expression on his face, "Don't you dare die before I kill you, you stupid shinigami!"

"Why'd you stop me?" Ichigo asked quietly, ignoring the threatning undertone of Grimmjow's glare in favor of wondering why said man had done what he did.

"Che, I didn't do it cause I wanted to." he grumbled, his glare darkening, "Aizen told me ta do it. Just be happy that I was ordered no ta fight anyone or you'd be the one lookin' like this." Grimmjow nodded at the suddenly unconscious Glynn, who was now in worse shape than Toushiro.

sAnd then he opened a garganta and was gone.

But Ichigo didn't contemplate Grimmjow's strange behavior any longer as he rushed over to Toushiro, who looked to be barely conscious and still lying where he'd left him several minutes, maybe half an hour earlier, bleeding and looking near dead as tears streamed freely down his face.

"Oh Toushiro... what did he do to you?" he whispered, gathering the little captain in his arms. Immediately, he went stiff before relaxing in Ichigo's arms, weakly grabbing hold of the front of his shuhakushou.

"It's my fualt..." he whispered, a strangled a very painful sob worming it's way out from Toushiro's throat before he once more went silent, finally going into the blissful peace known as unconsciousness when he finally realized that Ichigo was alright and there with him.

Ichigo closed his eyes, shaking his head to rid any of the possible meanings within those words from his mind, and decided that the only person better than Orihime and Unohana-san to heal Toushiro would be Hachi before he shot off towards the vizard hideout. Who cared if they got mad when his friend needed help?

And of course, Hiyori was _pissed_ but didn't say anything when she saw the look in Ichigo's eyes and also the condition of the kid that he'd brought with him. All she did was grumble and say that "As soon as Hachi heals him, yer going to get him out of here and go buy lunch, Strawberry Dumbass!" and then stalked off, dragging Shinji towards the training room so they could train (read; so she could beat the shit out of him).

* * *

Glynn grumbled miserably as he was lead through the halls of Hueco Mundo by his less than happy idol. Why did Aizen and everyone always ruin his fun? So what if he could have died, that would have killed both his prey and the object of Grimmjow's irritation in the crossfire!

And why was Grimmjow so mad at him, anyway? All he wanted to do was help. So why? Did his blue haired leader not like him anymore? Did he hate him? Glynn didn't always understand how the sexta - _former_ sexta worked at times, but that was what made him so alluring. So... he sighed, confusingly likeable.

Letting out a light chuckle that grated on Grimmjow's nerves, Glynn decided that whatever punishment they decided to give him he would take with a grin. After all, the games had only just begun. Well, to him, anyway.

-Two Hours Later-

Rangiku, Yumichika, Ikkaku, and Renji sat inside the usual meeting area inside the Urahara Shoten, anxious. Just moments after they'd defeated the rest of the hollows, both Ichigo and Toushiro's reiatsu had vanished somewhere near all the warehouses were so they knew that Ichigo had probably brought the captain to the vizards for healing, but that didn't make them any less worried for both of them.

The door opened and they looked up to find Ichigo, a bandage around his head, walking in with an unconscious and overly bandaged Toushiro in his arms. "Yo." he said quietly, heading to the bed that was placed off to the side for emergency and gently putting Toushiro down on it. The little captain's face scrunched up in pain momentarily, but otherwise he didn't show any sign of waking up.

"What happened?" Rangiku asked in a quiet whisper, afraid of waking her injured captain.

"Toushiro ran into a little... trouble with an arrancar." explained the berry, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. He vaguely noted that he'd forgotten Toushiro's captain's cape at the hideout as he looked at the little captain once more, "Hachi says he should wake up sometime tomorrow if not tonight so one of you guys should stay with him... I've got to go make it up to the vazards for bringing a shinigami into their home, no matter that he wasn't even awake."

Renji walked over and put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, "You go ahead, we'll take care of him." He didn't understand how Ichigo had gotten so close to one of the most serious and reserved captains of all of Seireitei, but he knew that lately they were as close as you can get. Almost like brothers but not quite...

Ichigo offered a weak smile, "Yeah... Thanks." he nodded and turned to leave, ignoring the strange looks that Ikkaku and Yumichika were giving the two brightly haired shinigami.

The berry didn't get back until around nine o'clock at night, where he found that Renji, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were down in the training area working on their technique, and Rangiku was the only one in Toushiro's room now. Ichigo knew how much she cared and worried for him. How the busty woman wanted nothing more than to help her captain...

"Hey..." he said softly and Rangiku looked up, offering a small smile.

"Hey Ichigo." she returned kindly, "You here to see Taichou?"

Ichigo couldn't help but grin, "Well, I'm not here to see Geta-boshi."

As the luitenant laughed, Ichigo felt himself lighten up on the inside. "You should go get some sleep." he intoned, taking in her weary appearance -eyes dark from exhaustion and worry, hair a bit haggard compared to its usual style- after they had just sat together in silence for nearly half an hour, "I'll look after him for the night."

She was about to protest before suddenly yawning, "Hm... I guess you're right... But you try to sleep, too. M'kay?" Rangiku said brightly.

Ichigo chuckled, "Yeah, okay."

As he stared at the sleeping Toushiro, he didn't realize when he'd fallen asleep.

-Morning-

Toushiro woke up slowly. Almost sluggishly. His entire body hurt. His head hurt. His arms and legs hurt. Hell, even his heart hurt. He couldn't seem to remember why it hurt though... Teal eyes snapped open from his pure confusion, blinking several times.

"Hm, seems you're awake." he heard a yawn and looked to the left to find Ichigo, a bandage around his head and quite a few new bruises on the visible parts of his body, sitting there sipping a steaming cup of coffee held losely in his hands, only partially awake. He'd probably only been up for a few minutes before he himself had awoken, Toushiro mused.

He assessed his orange haired friend with a strange look in his eyes that made the berry slightly worried. "What happened?" said the captain finally, slowly.

"You don't remember?" Ichigo frowned before looking off to the side. "That kinda makes me not want to say anything, honestly."

Toushiro looked at him from his lying position, slowly, painfully, sitting up, "Is it that bad?"

"Well..." Ichigo hesitated before sighing, "We met up with a very strong arrancar and... he seemed to have some sort of vendetta against you or something and- Hey, are you alright?" he said in concern as Toushiro's face went even more pale than it had been already.

The memories of yesterday's battle suddenly flooded into the little captain's mind, forcing him to relive the entire grueling experience. Now he knew just _why_ Ichigo had been reluctant to say anything. He didn't want the memory to crash in on him like this.

Man, he really did have memory issues...

Ichigo watched worriedly as slow tears began to form in his eyes. "It was my fualt." he whispered in a strangled whisper, voice cracking with guilt and sorrow.

"Toushiro... nothing was your fualt." the berry told him but that just made the boy feel worse. A sob escaped Toushiro's lips as his little hands clenched around the blankets.

"Don't say it wasn't! I know it was!" he cried angrily, "It's all my fualt that my entire family was kill!"

Ichigo stayed quiet for a minute, "What do you-?"

"That was the guy..." Toushiro went quiet, sobbing as quietly as he could, "That killed my mother and father... and then killed me... and caused my little sister to be left all alone..." He wasn't paying attention so he froze up when Ichigo put down his cup and did just as he did a week earlier. He walked over and pulled him into a protective hug.

"Shh..." Ichigo said gently, "I know you're going through a lot right now, Toushiro." he intoned, "And when my mom died I felt the same way: That it was my fualt. It's not. Not your fualt that something happened that you couldn't control... It may seem like it, but it's not your fualt." the berry rubbed soothing circles into Toushiro's back as his sobbing grew more persistant.

"It's... hard!" he gasped out, clutching Ichigo's shirt tightly and feeling his entire resolve break into a billione pieces once more. Dammit. Why was it so hard? So damned hard to hold his emotions in and block them out, like he usually did? Why couldn't he stop crying? Why... why did he feel so lost and alone when he knew that he wasn't?

Ichigo tightened his hold around his shoulders, murmuring quiet words of comfort as the captain suddenly began sobbing anew. Both of them ignored the gasp from the suddenly open door, too busy with dealing their emotions to care.

* * *

"Good morning!" Rangiku chirped, waking Renji, Ikkaku, and Yumichika from their resting places.

"Huh? Oh, Goo' mornin' Rangiku-san..." Renji muttered, yawning. The two from squad eleven didn't even budge.

"C'mon Renji! Let's go see if Taicou's awake yet!" she said cheerfully, her want to see the little captain awake obvious from the look in her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." he mumbled, following her down the hall and towards the meeting room where the captain was probably still asleep. "Do you hear that?" he said, his ears picking up on a strange noise.

Rangiku frowned outside the door, "It sounds like it's coming from inside Taichou's room..." she shared a look with the red head and they opened the door, freezing and letting out a gasp at the sight that met them.

Toushiro was holding onto Ichigo, sobbing and muttering incoherently as Ichigo had his arms wrapped around his shoulders, murmuring quiet words of comfort that seemed to be working, even though they had no idea what was being said.

Slowly, they stepped back, shutting the door behind them quietly.

They trudged back to the room that the four had been sharing and sat down silently. "My captain... he was..." Rangiku said slowly, in a state of shock.

"Aa..." Renji mumbled back in agreement. "Hey! Are you alright?" he said, startled as he saw tears fill her baby blue eyes.

"I'm worried about Taichou!" she suddenly wailed, flinging herself at the startled red head, "I've never seen him like that before!"

Renji could do nothing more but pat her head awkwardly as she began ranting into his chest about how unfair it was for her captain to be hurting when he'd done nothing to deserve it.

* * *

An hour later, Toushiro was meditating on the little cot that he'd been lying on when he woke up, listening to the rythmetic 'tap, tap, tap' as Ichigo tapped the end of a pencil on the table in front of him, trying to finish the last of his late school work so he'd have the weekend free.

He knew that there would probably be questions, _Rangiku_ had seen him crying, so he was avoiding leaving the room. It only helped that Ichigo had conveniently had his homework here so was there to offer any answer to any question or comfort he needed.

Gods, he was gonna have to kill some serious Hollow to redeem himself once more...

Toushiro sighed, Hyourinmaru sending silent comfort through their mental link as he felt his weilder's wariness about leaving the room. The worry about what questions would be asked... He wasn't ready to see people yet, if he was being honest with himself.

Ichigo yawned, leaning back with a stretch, "So Toushiro, I'm kinda hungry. You wanna go raid Geta-boshi's kitchen and help me make something for breakfast?"

The snowy haired captain hesitated before nodding slowly, standing up with small, deliberate movements. "Alright."

"Don't worry. I'm sure that they wont bug us." Ichigo offered, noting how he was purposefully stalling so he wouldn't face questions.

Toushiro scowled, "How the hell do you know?" he hadn't meant to say it with so much bite and slight hurt flash across Ichigo's face almost too fast for him to notice. But he did, and quickly made to apologize. "G-Gomenasai. I didn't mean it like- I'm just-"

Ichigo interrupted his little tirade, "It's alright. I understand... I kinda snapped at a lot of people for a week after losing to Grand Fisher," seeing the inquiring frown on the little captain's face, he sighed and gave the answer, "The hollow who killed my mother."

Toushiro winced and then nodded in silent thanks to the berry for staying with him like this before blushing in dark embarrassment as his stomach gave a loud growl. When did he last eat again? As Ichigo laughed, he felt his face heat up more, "Let's just go get something to eat!" he protested when the substitute ruffled his hair. The little captain ducked and swatted the hand away when the annoying young man made to ruffle his hair once more.

Ichigo tossed him a sly grin, "Aw, but I was just teasing, Toushiro!" he whined playfully but none the less stopped pestering the still wary young boy. He gave a few more chuckles, "C'mon, let's go eat before your stomach comes alive and eats us." he said when Toushiro's stomach gave another growl.

"Shut up." mutter the captain back as he followed his friend to the hall way, past the room where the others were - ignoring the stares, of course - and into the kitchen. And man, that kitchen was _huge_.

"Yuzu would have a feild day in here." Ichigo and Toushiro muttered at the same time, sharing a sort of smile that someone would only give to the person they trusted completely, and both went about gathering ingredients.

"Let's makes breakfast for everyone." the berry mumbled and Toushiro frowned but didn't protest as he put a few pans on the stove and went to get the butter from the fridge.

Okay, truthfully, this isn't what I expected this chapter to be like. But it turned out fine, right? I feel it could be better but at the same time I can't think of _how_ to make it better...

* * *

Hm, now I feel depressed after righting all of the emotional turmoil little Shiro-chan's goin' through T.T but heh, you can't always feel happy with something. You gotta sometimes feel sad, too... doesn't that make sense.

Meh, now I'm ranting so I'll just go now.

Byes!


	8. Sorry!

_**Author's Note: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!**_

Okay, first I'd like to say that _**NO**_ I am _**NOT**_ abandoning this story.

Second, I'd love to thank everyone for being so wonderful with your reviews and encouragement and to say that it makes be feel really bad and guilty that I've been so out of sorts with this story lately.

Third, I'd love to apologize about the lack of updates because I'd had the next chapter written about a month ago, but my flash-drive went and bugged out with a virus and I lost it But what I'm really sorry for is that no matter how many times I try to re-write it, it turns out worse each time and hardly makes sense.

You can probably guess where this is going and I'll stop rambling already because I hate reading stories that I really like only for the author to put it on hold for a while just as much as everyone else here.

So I'm really sorry, but this story will be on temporary Hiatus for at least another month or two as I attempt to sort things out with how the next chapter will go.

With nothing more to say, I'll bid you a good night.

Byes.


End file.
